Self-adjusting key-actuated mechanism for mailbox doors



67 F. J. RUSSELL ETAL 3,336,769

SELF-ADJUSTING KEY-ACTUATED MECHANISM FOR MAILBOX DOORS Filed Deo. 15, 1964 FQED J RL/ssau.

2/6/4425 .1; AQMSTPON FQED 1; 4 JENN/E INVENTORS ATTOQNEVS United States Patent SELF-ADJUSTING KEY-ACTUATED MECHANISM FOR MAILBOX DOORS Fred ll. Russell, 8635 Otis St, South Gate, Calif. 90280, and Richard L. Armstrong, Santa Fe Springs, and Fred L. Jennie, Buena Park, Calif; said Jennie and said Armstrong assig'nors to said Russell Filed Dec. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 418,523 1 Claim. (Cl. 70-134) The invention relates to locks of the type made use of for mailboxes like those commonly installed in apartment houses, but which may also be found suitable for lockboxes of various kinds where a reciprocating latch bolt is employed to hold a hinged door in closed position.

Sets of mailboxes, for example are made by a great number of different manufacturers, each of which is prone to follow its own particular styling and construction, rather than to conform on all occasions to a single standard of construction. On the other hand, manufacturers of locks are relatively fewer in number, and the manufacturers of locks frequently supply locks to a great many different manufacturers of lockboxes. Heretofore, because of the many different constructions resorted to by the lockbox manufacturers, manufacturers of locks have had to resort to individually tailored constructions on numerous occasions in order to make it possible for their locks to be used with the lockboxes of a specific manufacturer. Specially made locks invariably result inhigher costs and more troublesome installation problems.

It is, therefore, among the objects of the invention to provide a new and improved self-adjusting key-actuated mechanism for a lockbox which is substantially standard in most material respects but which is provided with an extension of such a construction that the key-actuated mechanism can be installed in lockboxes of a great many different kinds without there being any need for change in the key-actuated mechanism itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved self-adjusting key-actuated mechanism for a lockbox door which is capable of being standardized, while at the same time being such as to be capable of use with doors, lockboxes, and reciprocating latch bolts in appreciable variety.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved self-adjusting key-actuated mechanism which is very simple in its construction, which is positive in its operation when it is assembled with a latch bolt on a door, and which is capable of being installed in a variety of different locations by employment of a simple inexpensive bracket.

Also included among the objects of the invention is to provide a new and improved self-adjusting key-actuated mechanism which provides the advantages above set forth and which requires no sacrifice of the normal advantages inherent in tumbler actuated locking devices.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a group of lockboxes, such, for example, as mailboxes which would be normally installed in the hall of an apartment house.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of one of the lockboxes partially broken away.

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the door of the lockbox.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

A typical installation has been chosen for the purpose of illustrating the invention wherein there is shown a box housing 10 provided with three separate compartments (not shown), but which are served by doors 11, 12, and 13 mounted by use of hinges 15 in appropriate openings like the opening 16 in a front wall 14. Since all of the structures are the same, a description only of the door 12 and its mounting and equipment will be used for the purpose of illustration.

The door 12 is provided on its rear face with brackets 17 and 18, the brackets 17 and 18 having appropriate bores 19 and 20 in which is reciprocatably mounted a latch bolt 21. The latch bolt 21 has a beveled end 22 to assist in throwing back the latch bolt 21 when the door 12 is closed, whereafter the latch bolt 21, when extended,

engages behind a catch portion 23 of the front wall 14 so as to hold the door 12 in closed position.

A key-actuated mechanism indicated generally by the reference character 25 is shown mounted in an appropriate opening 26 in the door 12. The key-actuated mechanism 25 consists of a body 27 in which is rotatably mounted a cylindrical key plug 28. The key plug 28 is provided with a conventional keyway 29.

To secure the body 27 properly mounted in position, there is provided a bracket 30 having legs 31 and 32 secured to appropriate bosses 33 and 34 on the inside face of the door 12 by means of the screws 35. A horizontal extension 36 of the bracket is provided with a slot 37 which accommodates a tumbler housing 38, extending from one side of the body 27 of the key-actuated mechanism 25. By this device, the key-actuated mechanism 25 is maintained in position by having a shoulder 39 at the front edge of the body 27 impressed against a rear face 40 of the door 12, while a forward end of the key plug 28 extends through opening 26, as shown to good advantage in FIGURE 5.

A tailpiece indicated generally by the reference character 45 is shown as comprising a disc 46 overlying the rear base of the key plug 28, to which it is attached by means of screws 47. An arm 48 forming a portion of the tailpiece 45 is fastened at a rear end 49 to an edge of the disc 46, a front end 50 of the arm 48 being adjacent to but spaced from the rear face 40 of the door 12. It will be noted that arm 48 is parallel to the axis of rotation of the key plug 28 and is spaced from the exterior of the body 27.

On the lower side of the latch bolt 21 is a notch 51 providing a forwardly facing shoulder 52 and a rearwardly facing shoulder 53. The length of the notch 51 from the shoulder 52 to the shoulder 53 is slightly greater than V the width of the arm 48, so that the arm 48 can swing freely within a notch 51 as it engages one or the other of the shoulders 52 and 53.

Constructed as shown and mounted as described, it will be appreciated that the self-adjusting key-actuated mechanism 25 is such that the arm 48, extending as it does throughout substantially the entire length of the body 27, is adapted to engage any latch bolt 21 irrespective of how close or how far away it may be mounted with respect to the rear face 40 of the door 12. Further still, because of the simple construction of the tailpiece 45 and its relationship to the body 27, it can be made to engage the shoulders 52 and 53 of the notch 51 even though the location of the notch 51 may not be precisely the same in each instance. If the notch 51 is further away than usual the arm 48 may be bent slightly outwardly until it engages. If the notch 51 is closer than usual, the arm 48 may be bent inwardly to a position where there is a freely moving engagement. Moreover, the adjustment is so simple 3 that no special tools are needed in order to have the fit be satisfactory.

Further still, in order to limit rotation of the key plug 28 to an amount no more than necessary to extend and withdraw the latch bolt 21, shoulders 54 and 55 are provided on the disc 46 at locations where, when the key plug 28 is rotated, one shoulder or the other engages a respective side of the tumbler housing 38. In this respect, therefore, the tailpiece 45 performs a double function, namely that of limiting rotation of the key plug 28, as well as that of providing an adjustable engagement of th tailpiece with the latch bolt 21.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom Within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claim so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Having described the invention, What is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

In a door hingedly mounted on a door frame said door having an inside face, a latch bolt having a reciprocatable mounting on the inside face of said door for positions of engagement and disengagement with said frame, said mounting comprising axially spaced projections on said inside face, said latch bolt comprising a single bar slidably mounted in said projections, said door having an opening therein, said inside face of said door being exposed to access when the door is in open position, the combination of a key-actuated mechanism mounted in said door, said key-actuated mechanism comprising a body having a key plug rotatably mounted therein, and a pin tumbler housing forming a longitudinal extension on one side of said body, a bracket having a slot therein extending around a rearward end of said pin tumbler housing, and means releasably securing said bracket to the adjacent face of said door, whereby to hold said key-actuated mechanism in operative position on the adjacent face of said door, said key plug having a freely rotating fit in said opening in the door, said means comprising at least one bolt having a head thereof in exposed position on the inside face of said door, said key plug having a keyway therein, a tailpiece having one end attached to the inner end of said key plug, a drive portion of said tailpiece attached to said one end and extending forwardly along the exterior of the body for a substantial proportion of the length of said body on the side opposite said pin tumbler housing, said drive portion being at a location spaced from said body and parallel to the axis of rotation of said key plug, said latch bolt having shoulders thereon extending in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of said latch bolt, said drive portion being engageable at a location along the length thereof with said shoulders on the latch bolt whereby to move said latch bolt between extended and retracted positions when said key plug is rotated.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 549,134 11/1895 Judd 70-370 1,549,603 9/1925 Murmann 70-370 X 2,207,878 7/1940 Schlage 70-370 2,720,103 10/1955 Golden et al 70-134 X 3,011,331 12/1961 Williams 70-370 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,063,924 9/1959 Germany.

BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner. 

